THE GBESE STOOL VS DELTA HOUSE GHANA LTD.

The Defendant hereinafter called the ‘Applicant’ brought this application on 27th December, 2023 to strike out the Plaintiff’s Statement of Claim as disclosing no cause of action, pursuant to the inherent jurisdiction of the Court.

It is the Applicant’s case that it acquired the subject matter land as a Deed of Assignment dated 23rd November, 2001 emanating from a lease granted by the Lands Commission which is in charge of Government’s lands.

The Applicant claimed to have developed the land and remained in uninterrupted possession of same.

Upon expiry of the original lease, the Lands Commission has since renewed the land in favour of the Applicant.

The Applicant further at paragraph 16 of its supporting affidavit noted that it is its belief that where land is acquired or vested in the Government of Ghana, all rights of the allodial title owners are extinguished by the said acquisition or vesting and so if the Plaintiff had any interest in the land at all, that interest became extinguished after the acquisition or vesting by the Government.

It therefore believes that the Plaintiff’s remedy lies in a compensation against the Government, but not in respect of a claim for declaration of title to the land.

The Application was opposed by the Plaintiff/Respondent on the ground that the land in dispute is at Kantamanto in Accra in respect of which an injunction application has been brought against the Defendant/Applicant to desist from carrying out construction works pending the determination of the suit and not the developed land exhibited by the Applicant as Exhibit ‘DH4’. The Respondent denied the compulsory acquisition of the land by the Government and its capacity to lease same to the Applicant’s grantors.

It was further contended by the Respondent that if the subject matter land was compulsorily acquired by the Government, no compensation whatsoever was ever paid to them and thus denied the extinguishment of its title.

To begin with, I must say that while the Applicant’s submission has the outlook of some lucidness and soundness upon a cursory look, its careful analysis opens up its frailty and defects that appear to hinge on fundamental issues.

It may appear that the Applicant entered this contest upon misguided and inaccurate facts.

At paragraph 5 of the supporting affidavit, Byron Thomas Wumbee deposed thus: “That the Applicant is a limited liability company formerly called Bureau Delta Huis Limited.

A copy of the evidence of the change of name